Eleventh Global Studies Conference

Abstract

In the present times, capitalism relies on the convergence of computing, telecommunication, and cultural production. This study deals with capitalism in the new age of social media. It explains the relationship between profit made by social media networking sites like Facebook and capitalism. It will as well define economic surveillance and examine its relationship with capitalism. Furthermore, targeted advertising is going to be tackled, including its definition and how it operates. The second part of this research will concern Facebook’s reinforcement of American economic surveillance. The following point tries to analyze Facebook’s privacy settings and prove that they are indeed supporting economic surveillance. The last part will be devoted to the new business of big data. It will reveal that all the collected data of the world’s social networking users are the brand new raw materials that many businesses and sectors are making use of in order make profit. Analytical research is the main approach to my study. Results show that social media networks like Facebook are used as raw materials for economic purposes. In fact, economic surveillance, which is collecting Facebook users’ personal data and selling them to advertising companies, is helping many international companies progress and prosper.